


Seeking a Blessing

by TwilightLegacy13



Category: The Shattered Realms Series - Cinda Williams Chima
Genre: F/M, Hyss - Ship, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:02:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21795781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwilightLegacy13/pseuds/TwilightLegacy13
Summary: Lyss takes Hal to meet her mother and they share the news of their engagement with Raisa.  A quick one-shot taking place after Deathcaster.
Relationships: Halston Matelon/Alyssa ana'Raisa
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	Seeking a Blessing

**Author's Note:**

> As requested by @awkward-nerd-duo on Tumblr! Here it is.

Lyss hadn’t thought it would be this difficult to convince Hal to meet her mother. After all, they had seen each other briefly in Delphi back when he was a political prisoner of the Fells. But now that he was the king of Arden, he seemed suddenly unwilling.

“Why do you not want to go?” Lyss asked. “It’s not like you’re complete strangers.”

“It’s different,” Hal insisted. “When we met before, I was nobody—just an enemy soldier meeting the queen of the country I was at war with. Now I’m a southern king.”

She shrugged. “So? If anything, it should be less intimidating for you now that you’ve got a higher rank.”

“I’m _not_ intimidated,” Hal said in a tone that suggested otherwise. “It’s just…after what happened with the Montaignes, what will your mother think about you marrying a son of Arden?”

Now that Lyss thought about it, she realized that she really had no idea. What with her mother’s personal history with Gerard Montaigne and the latest ordeal with Julianna and Jarat’s almost-wedding, she couldn’t imagine that her mother would have any favorable feelings toward Ardenine kings right now. But Hal had proven himself many times to be different from all of the Montaignes, and he was doing incredible things for his country.

In any case, Lyss’s mother wasn’t the type to make immediate judgments of people. Even southern soldier-turned-kings.

“She won’t mind,” she said confidently. “She’ll see that you have a good heart, and she’ll definitely know I wouldn’t have said yes to you if you were like the last two kings.” She snickered. “Besides, even _if_ she were to disapprove, I’m the queen. I can make my own choices.”

Hal still hesitated. “I know you can, but…in Arden, it’s tradition for the man to receive permission from the father of the girl he wants to marry. Obviously I couldn’t do that in your case, but I wanted your mother’s blessing.”

Lyss rolled her eyes. “Well, knowing my mother you’ll get it, you certainly don’t need permission. You _know_ me. I do what I want.”

“You certainly do,” Hal agreed with a laugh, leaning in to kiss her. His lips pressed hard into hers, and she deepened the kiss as her fingers got tangled in his hair. His hands, cupping her face, were rough and callused but his touch was gentle. It was too soon when he pulled away and he must have felt it too, for after a fraction of a second, Hal leaned forward again and their mouths crashed together once more.

“Does this mean,” Lyss mumbled against his lips between kisses, “that you want to go meet my mother?”

Hal broke away and looked her in the eyes, setting his hands on her shoulders. “Yes,” he told her earnestly. “I only said otherwise before because I was nervous. I still am nervous, in fact, but I want us to know each other.”

Lyss smiled. “I’m sure she’ll be happy to meet you.”

Hal hadn’t stopped fidgeting since they arrived in Fellsmarch—during the whole walk up to the castle close, his fingers had tapped anxiously against his thighs. He couldn’t help it. He was still nervous about meeting Lyss’s mother. While she was right, they _had_ met briefly before, now he would be presenting himself as a king and more than that, he would be presenting himself as the man her daughter was going to marry. Surely even the ruler of a country was allowed to be anxious about that.

“It’ll be all right,” Lyss reassured him in a whisper. “I thought you were done believing that the Gray Wolf queens are witches.”

“Very funny.”

When they got to the entrance, Lyss was immediately greeted by bluejackets who saluted and grinned, clearly glad to see her home. “Captain Gray!” one of them exclaimed. “You’re back! I’m sure your mother will be eager to see you.”

“Ruby!” Lyss gave the bluejacket a hug. “Yes, I want to see my mother. We’ve been communicating, but I want to see her in person.”

“Of course! Littlefield, cover for me? I’ll bring you in right away.” The bluejacket, Ruby, led Lyss into the castle without another word and gestured for Hal to follow. He doubted she had even paid attention to who he was. She was too focused on the returned queen.

Lyss talked animatedly with Ruby as they continued down the hall, Hal trailing behind and trying to decide what to do with his hands. They suddenly felt very useless, and he felt stupid standing so rigidly with them at his side.

“She’ll be in her rooms,” Ruby said, gesturing toward a closed set of doors. “Well, I’ll leave you here to talk to her, but I’m glad you’re home, Captain Gray.” With a final smile, she left and went back the way they came.

Lyss squeezed Hal’s hand briefly before knocking on the door. After a moment, she sighed and knocked again, clearly impatient. This time the door opened after a single knock, and Queen Raisa ana’Marianna stood looking up at them.

“Alyssa,” she said, grabbing her daughter in a crushing embrace. “I’ve waited so long to see you back here with me.”

“I wish I could’ve come sooner, Mama,” Lyss murmured soothingly. “But it wasn’t long ago that we defeated Celestine, and after we’ve been mainly focused on Arden and putting the pieces back together. Speaking of that…I want you to meet someone.”

Her mother pulled away, only then noticing that her daughter wasn’t alone. “You look familiar,” she said to Hal, tilting her head. “Have we met before? Who are you?”

“How about we sit down and get comfortable?” Lyss suggested before he could answer.

Raisa nodded, gesturing for them to come into the sitting room. She closed the door behind them and sat at a round table. “Sit. If you want anything, I ask Ma—I can ask someone to bring up refreshments.”

“I’m fine,” Lyss said as she sat down. She turned to Hal, who shook his head. “This is Halston Matelon, the new king of Arden.”

Hal bowed. “It’s an honor to meet you, Your Majesty.”

“None of that—I’m not the queen anymore,” she reminded him gently, motioning for him to sit down. “The honor is mine; surely you’re busy with your new country.”

“Yes,” he admitted. “I’ve had a lot on my hands, but I trust my brother and my friends to manage everything in my absence.”

Raisa smiled. “It’s good to have people you can rely upon so much. You would never see Gerard or Jarat having that kind of faith in their family or friends.”

“Yes, well.” Hal seized the opportunity to establish his character. “I like to think that I’m not anything like either of them.”

“You’re not,” Lyss interjected, sounding horrified at the idea.

Raisa’s smile widened. “I don’t know you too well, but you seem like a very honorable man who cares about the people. Arden needs that—Arden needs _you_. It won’t be easy, of course, but I think you’ll do good things for the kingdom.”

“I certainly hope so, Your Majesty. I-I need to ask you something.” _Just say it so you don’t worry any longer._

“What is it?” she asked lightly.

Hal laced his fingers together and took a deep breath before continuing. “Your Majesty, I would like to ask for your blessing to marry your daughter.”

Her eyebrows shot high—not in judgment, but in shock. “What? You…Alyssa?”

Lyss met her mother’s gaze steadily and nodded once. “I know it’s sudden,” she said, “but we wanted to say something about it in person and not by letter.”

“I’m sure you two are well suited for each other,” Raisa managed. “But are you sure you aren’t rushing things? Alyssa, you never were in a hurry to get married, and you’re still young.”

“I wasn’t in a hurry to marry because I thought I wouldn’t have a choice,” Lyss explained, which made Hal’s heart flutter peculiarly. She had never wanted to get married apparently, _except_ for when it was to him. “And I am about the same age now as you were when you married my father.”

Raisa nodded as though to concede the point. “I don’t have any business asking this, but…would the marriage be solely for the sake of politics?”

“No,” Hal said without question. “Absolutely not. I’m in love with your daughter, and she has told me she feels the same.” He chose to omit the fact that Lyss had already agreed to get married. Typically, asking for parental permission came _before_ the proposal.

“I do,” Lyss agreed, taking his hand.

The former queen looked at Hal and her daughter warmly, eyes lingering on their clasped hands. “You seem like you’d be very happy together,” Raisa noted. “And I’ll eagerly wait for the wedding.” Then, specifically to Hal: “You have my blessing.”

Hal felt himself smile. “Thank you, Your Majesty.” He inclined his head and then stopped himself, remembering what she had said before. “If you want, I’ll leave you two to talk alone?”

Lyss looked at him apologetically. “If you don’t mind. Just for a few minutes so we can catch up.”

“Of course,” he said easily, feeling like a burden had lifted from his shoulders.

And as he left the room, he clearly heard Raisa murmur, “He’s already like a son to me, Alyssa.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos or comments if you enjoyed it! You can find me on Tumblr at @twilightlegacy13.


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